Multi-chip package and memory system

ABSTRACT

A multi-chip package includes a first group of memory chips that includes a first memory chip and a second memory chip, a second group of memory chips that includes at least one memory chip, a first internal wiring system that couples the first memory chip and the second memory chip to a first terminal configured to receive a chip-enable signal, a second internal wiring system that couples the at least one memory chip to a second terminal configured to receive the chip-enable signal. The first memory chip and the second memory chip each include a chip address memory region configured to store an address associated with the memory chip, and an address rewrite module configured to rewrite the address associated with the memory chip and stored in the chip address memory region in response to an external operation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromJapanese Patent Application No. 2012-067031, filed Mar. 23, 2012, theentire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

Embodiments described herein relate to a multi-chip package and a memorysystem.

BACKGROUND

Lately interest has been directed to the SSD (solid-state drive), whichcarries a memory chip that has NAND-type memory cells as a memory systemadopted in a computer system. Different from the magnetic disk device,the SSD has the advantages of a high speed of operation, beinglightweight, etc.

Given a limited pin count and assembly area for the transfer controllerthat executes the access control of the memory chip, to maximizecapacity, SSDs can be configured with a multi-chip package that hasmultiple laminated memory chips.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of assembly of themulti-chip package on the SSD according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating another example of assembly of themulti-chip package on the SSD of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the internal wiring of the multi-chippackage before assembly on the SSD.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of wiring when themulti-chip package is assembled on the SSD according to a firstconnection example.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of wiring when themulti-chip package is assembled on the SSD according to a secondconnection example.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the layout of one multi-chip package.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the multi-chip package.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of thesolder balls of the multi-chip package.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating the arrangement of the memorychips that form the multi-chip package in the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating the method for assembling themulti-chip package on the SSD of the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the SSD when thefirst connection example is adopted.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the SSD when thesecond connection example is adopted.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating the constitution of the memorychips that form the multi-chip package according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart illustrating the method for assembling themulti-chip package on the SSD according to the second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments provide a multi-chip package and a memory system associatedtherewith that can realize greater flexibility for the memory system.

In general, a detailed description according to embodiments will beexplained with reference to the included figures. However, the presentdisclosure is not limited to these embodiments. Here, as an example ofthe memory chips, the memory chips that have NAND-type memory cells willbe explained. However, the object of application for the presentembodiment is not limited to the NAND-type memory chips. In addition, insome embodiments, the multiple memory chips may not necessarily belaminated inside the multi-chip package.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a multi-chippackage includes a first group of memory chips that includes a firstmemory chip and a second memory chip, a second group of memory chipsthat includes at least one memory chip, a first internal wiring systemthat couples the first memory chip and the second memory chip to a firstterminal configured to receive a chip-enable signal, a second internalwiring system that couples the at least one memory chip to a secondterminal configured to receive the chip-enable signal. The first memorychip and the second memory chip each include a chip address memoryregion configured to store an address associated with the memory chip,and an address rewrite module configured to rewrite the addressassociated with the memory chip and stored in the chip address memoryregion in response to an external operation.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the multi-chip package onthe SSD according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. Asshown in the figure, the SSD 100 is connected to the personal computeror other host device 200 by a standard ATA (Advanced TechnologyAttachment, SATA) or other communication interface, and it functions asthe external memory device of the host device 200. However, thecommunication interface connecting the SSD 100 and the host device 200is not limited to the SATA standard. For example, one may also adopt anSAS (Serial Attached SCSI), a PCIe (PCI Express) or various other typesof communication interface standards.

The SSD 100 has a NAND memory 1, a transfer controller 2 that executesdata transfer between the host device 200 and the NAND memory 1, a RAM 3as a volatile memory for temporarily storing the transfer data from thetransfer controller 2, and a power supply circuit 4. The data sent fromthe host device 200 are stored in the RAM 3 under the control of thetransfer controller 2. Then, the data are read from the RAM 3 and arewritten in the NAND memory 1. The power supply circuit 4 generates theinternal power supply to drive the transfer controller 2 and the NANDmemory 1, and the generated internal power is fed to the transfercontroller 2 and the NAND memory 1.

The NAND memory 1 is composed of several (4 in this example) multi-chippackages 10 each having multiple (4 in this example) memory chips 11 ato 11 d. The multi-chip packages 10 are connected to the transfercontroller 2 by connecting wires of different channels (Ch. 0 to Ch. 3).Here, the multi-chip packages are controlled independently for eachchannel. Thus, the four multi-chip packages 10 are connected to thetransfer controller 2 so that they can carry out operations in parallelat the same time. Also, the connection wiring of each channel containsthe I/O signal line, the control signal line, and the R/B signal line.In the following sections, the “signal line” may be abbreviated as“signal”. The control signals include the chip-enable signal (CE), thecommand-latch enable signal (CLE), the address-latch enable signal(ALE), the write-enable signal (WE), the read-enable signal (RE), thewrite-protect signal (WP), and the data strobe signal (DQS). In thefollowing section, the connection relationship between the multi-chippackage 10 and the transfer controller 2 in the assembly example shownin FIG. 1 will be taken as Connection Example 1.

The transfer controller 2 also has the following parts: a host interfacecontroller (host I/F controller) 21 that executes control of thecommunication interface with the host device 200 and control of the datatransfer between the host device 200 and the RAM 3, a RAM controller 22that executes control of read/write of the data for RAM 3, a NANDcontroller 23 that executes control of data transfer between the NANDmemory 1 and the RAM 3, and an MPU 24 that executes the overall controlof the transfer controller 2 on the basis of the firmware.

On the basis of the read instruction/write instruction/deletioninstruction from the MPU 24, the NAND controller 23 sends the I/O signaland the control signal to the multi-chip package 10 of the desiredchannel. The memory chips 11 a to 11 d contained in the multi-chippackage 10 of the corresponding channel can execute the operationcorresponding to the contents of the received signal.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating another example of assembling themulti-chip package 10 on the SSD 100 that is according to the firstembodiment of the present disclosure. According to the assembly exampleshown in FIG. 2, each multi-chip package 10 is connected to the transfercontroller 2 so that it is controlled by the wiring of 2 channels. Thatis, the four memory chips 11 a to 11 d of each multi-chip package 10 areclassified into 2 groups that are each controlled through a differentchannel. In the following, the connection relationship between themulti-chip package 10 and the transfer controller 2 in the assemblyexample shown in FIG. 2 will be referred to as Connection Example 2.

According to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, theinternal wiring of the multi-chip package 10 and the arrangement of thememory chips 11 a to 11 d are designed appropriately to ensure thatafter manufacturing of the multi-chip package 10, any of the connectionrelationships in Connection Example 1 and Connection Example 2 may beadopted.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the internal wiring of the multi-chippackage 10 before assembly on the SSD 100. As shown in the figure, thememory chips 11 a to 11 d each have two chip address-setting pins 130 a,130 b. The chip address-setting pins 130 a, 130 b each are connected toeither the power supply potential Vcc or the ground potential Vdd. Thesupply and ground potentials are connected to the chip address-settingpins 130 a, 130 b that are included in the memory chips 11 a to 11 dappropriately to ensure that a unique combination is made in eachmulti-chip package 10. The combination of the potentials set at the chipaddress-setting pins 130 a, 130 b works as the chip address of theinitial state for identifying the memory chips 11 a to 11 d with respectto each other. In this embodiment, the state when the power supplypotential Vcc is connected is taken as H(1), and the state when theground potential Vdd is connected is taken as L(0). Thus, the state ofthe chip address-setting pin 130 a indicates the high-order digits CADD0of the chip address CADD, and the state of the chip address-setting pin130 b indicates the low-order digits CADD1 of the chip address. Forexample, in the memory chip 11 a, both of the chip address-setting pins130 a, 130 b are connected to the ground potential Vdd, and the chipaddress of “00” is set as the initial state. Also, in the memory chips11 b to 11 d, “01”, “10”, and “11” are set as the chip addresses oftheir initial states, respectively.

In one embodiment, the memory chips 11 a to 11 d each have a chipaddress register (chip address memory region) 123 for storing the setvalue of the chip address. The memory chips 11 a to 11 d can each usethe value stored in the chip address register 123 included in their ownmemory chip as the chip address set for their own memory chip. The chipaddress register 123 stores the chip addresses CADD0, CADD1 input fromthe chip address-setting pins 130 a, 130 b as the chip addresses of theinitial state. Furthermore, the chip address register 123 can beconfigured to allow rewrite of the stored chip address of the initialstate by the prescribed command (such as test command) from the transfercontroller 2.

Also, the I/O signal line, the R/B signal line, and the control signalline (especially CE) are commonly connected as part of the internalwiring 140 in a multi-chip package to separate sub-groups of the memorychips, where each sub-group of memory chips includes fewer memory chipsthat the total number of the memory chips that form the multi-chippackage 10 inside the same multi-chip package 10. For example, memorychip 11 a and memory chip 11 b are commonly connected to each other bythe various types of signal lines by the internal wiring 140 and formone signal line group, and memory chip 11 c and memory chip 11 d arecommonly connected by the various types of the signal lines by theinternal wiring 140 and form another signal line group. The internalwiring 140 is connected to the solder balls (terminals) 56 arranged forthe various portions of the internal wiring 140, respectively. In otherwords, the internal wiring 140 for each signal line group is connectedto a different solder ball (terminal) 56 and the internal wiring 140 forother signal line groups. In addition, the signal line group that makescommon connections for memory chip 11 a and memory chip 11 b is denotedas the 0-series signal line group, and the CE line, R/B line, and I/Oline that form the 0-series signal line group are represented by CE0,R/B0, and I/O-0, respectively. Similarly, the signal line group thatcommonly connects memory chip 11 c and memory chip 11 d is representedby the 1-series signal line group. The CE line, R/B line, and I/O linethat form the 1-series signal line group are denoted as CE1, R/B1, andI/O-1, respectively.

In this way, the multi-chip package 10 has an arrangement in which thevarious types of signal lines are commonly connected for each group ofthe memory chips in a number smaller than the number of the memory chipsthat form the multi-chip package 10 inside the multi-chip package, and,at the same time, the various memory chips 11 a to 11 d can be installedin a multi-chip package according to either Connection Example 1 orConnection Example 2 without being specifically manufactured for eitherconnection example.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of wiring when themulti-chip package 10 is assembled on the SSD 100 with the connectionrelationship according to Connection Example 1. When Connection Example1 is adopted, the 0-series signal line group and the 1-series signalline group are combined in a single connection wiring 210 out of themulti-chip package 10, and they are connected as a single-chamber signalline group to the transfer controller 2 (or more accurately, NANDcontroller 23). That is, the CE0 and CE1 are connected out of themulti-chip package 10, and they are connected to the transfer controller2. Similarly, R/B0 and R/B1 are connected out of the multi-chip package10, and they are connected to the transfer controller 2, and I/O-0 andI/O-1 are connected out of the multi-chip package 10, and they areconnected to the transfer controller 2. The memory chips 11 a to 11 d donot execute rewrite of the contents of the chip address registers 123equipped in them. That is, in operation, “00”, “01”, “10” and “11” areadopted as the chip addresses of the initial state of the memory chips11 a to 11 d, respectively.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of wiring when themulti-chip package 10 is assembled on the SSD 100 with the connectionrelationship in Connection Example 2. When Connection Example 2 isadopted, the 0-series signal line group and the 1-series signal linegroup are independently connected to the transfer controller 2 (or moreaccurately, NAND controller 23) because the signal line groups withdifferent channels use separate portions of the connection wiring 210.Then, after start up, the contents of the chip address registers 123disposed in the memory chips 11 c and 11 d are rewritten to the chipaddresses that can identify the memory chips 11 c and 11 d that areconnected to the 1-series signal line group. That is, the chip addressof “00” is set as the chip address of memory chip 11 c, and the chipaddress of “01” is set as the chip address of memory chip 11 d.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the layout of 1 multi-chip package 10.FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the multi-chip package 10taken across II-II as shown in FIG. 6.

On the substrate 51, the following parts are sequentially laminated: amemory chip 11 a, a spacer 53, a memory chip 11 b, a spacer 53, a memorychip 11 c, a spacer 53, and a memory chip 11 d. As the bottom layer, thememory chip 11 a is anchored to the substrate 51 by an underfill 54 madeof a resin.

On the substrate 51, multiple terminals (bonding pads) 52 are arranged.The pins disposed in the memory chips 11 a to 11 d are electricallyconnected to the terminals 52 on the substrate 51 via the bonding wires55. The multiple memory chips 11 a to 11 d and the bonding wires 55laminated onto the substrate 51 are sealed off by the molding resin 57.Also, solder balls 56 are arranged on the lower surface of the substrate51. The solder balls 56 are electrically connected to the terminals 52.The NAND memory 1, for example, is soldered and assembled together withthe transfer controller 2 and the RAM 3 on a printed circuit boardequipped in the SSD 100. The various types of signals from the transfercontroller 2 are input via the solder balls 56, the terminals 52, andthe bonding wires 55 to the pins equipped in the memory chips 11 a to 11d.

In the above, the multi-chip package 10 has been explained with a BGA(Ball Grid Array) package structure. However, it may also have a PGA(Pin Grid Array) package structure or other package structure.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of thesolder balls 56 of the multi-chip package 10. As shown in the figure, onthe substrate 51, solder balls 56 are provided that constitute the0-series signal line group (R/E0 terminals) CE0, CLE0, ALE0, WE0, RE0,WP0, DQS0, I/O-0, (I/O 0-0 to I/O 7-0), and solder balls 56 are providedthat constitute the 1-series signal line group (R/E1 terminals) CE1,CLE1, ALE1, WE1, RE1, WP1, DQS1, I/O-1, (I/O 0-1 to I/O 7-1).

In this figure, the blank solder balls 56 indicate unused solder balls56.

In the following section, the composition of the memory chips 11 a to 11d will be explained in detail. The memory chips 11 a to 11 d have thesame composition so that in the following only the composition of memorychip 11 a will be explained as a typical memory chip.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating the composition of memory chip 11a. As shown in the figure, memory chip 11 a has an I/O signal processor111, a control signal processor 112, a chip controller 113, a commandregister 114, an address register 115, a data register 116, a memorycell array 117, a column decoder 118, a sense amplifier 119, a rowdecoder 120, an RY/BY (ready/busy) generator 121, a chip address-settingcircuit 122, and the chip address register 123.

Here, the chip controller 113 is a state transition circuit (also knownas a so-called “state machine”) that transitions the state (for example,“ready” or “busy”) on the basis of the various types of control signalsreceived via the control signal processor 112, and it controls theoverall operation of the memory chip 11 a. The RY/BY generator 121 makestransitions between the ready state (R) and the busy state (B) for thestate of the RY/BY signal line under the control of the chip controller113.

The I/O signal processor 111 is a buffer circuit for transceiving theI/O signal with the transfer controller 2 via the I/O signal line. TheI/O signal processor 111 distributes the address, command, and data(i.e., write data) fetched as the I/O signal to the address register115, the command register 114, and the data register 116 for storage,respectively.

Because the I/O signal line is an 8-bit signal line, the I/O signal linecan transfer 8-digit addresses en bloc. In contrast, at present thememory capacity of each memory chip 11 a is high enough that in manycase the digit number of the address sent from the transfer controller 2is over 8. Consequently, in the I/O signal processor 111, the address ofthe access destination is divided into multiple rounds for transmissionvia the 8-bit I/O signal line. The address register 115 stores theaddress that has been divided for sending in multiple rounds, and itthen combines them into a single address.

The high-order 2 bits of the combined address are adopted as the chipidentification bits for identifying memory chip 11 a. Thus, the combinedaddress contains the following contents counting from the highest order:a chip identification bit (chip address), a row address, and a columnaddress. The chip address is read by the chip controller 113, the rowaddress is read by the row decoder 120, and the column address is readby the column decoder 118.

The memory cell array 117 has a composition such that the NAND typememory cells are arranged as a matrix, and it stores the write data fromthe host device 200.

The row decoder 120, the column decoder 118, and the sense amplifier 119execute access to the memory cell array 117 under the control of thechip controller 113. More specifically, the row decoder 120 selects theword line corresponding to the read row address, and it activates theselected word line. The column decoder 118 selects and activates the bitline corresponding to the read column address. The sense amplifier 119applies a voltage on the bit line selected by the column decoder 118,and it writes the data stored in the data register 116 to the memorycell transistor located at the cross point between the word lineselected by the row decoder 120 and the bit line selected by the columndecoder 118. Also, the sense amplifier 119 reads the data stored in thememory cell transistor via the bit line, and it stores the read data inthe data register 116. The data stored in the data register 116 is sentvia the data line to the I/O signal processor 111, and it is thentransferred from the I/O signal processor 111 to the transfer controller2.

The control signal processor 112 receives input from various types ofcontrol signals, and on the basis of the received control signals, itexecutes allotment of the I/O signal received by the I/O signalprocessor 111 to the register of the storage destination. In addition,the control signal processor 112 transfers the received control signalto the chip controller 113.

At start up, the chip address-setting circuit 122 sets the 2-bit chipaddress set values (CADD0, CADD1) that are externally input via the chipaddress-setting pins 130 a, 130 b as the chip address of the initialstate in the chip address register 123. The chip controller 113 comparesthe chip address stored in the chip address register 123 with the chipaddress input from the command register 114 and determines whether itsown memory chip 11 a makes a request for operation.

The I/O signal processor 111, the control signal processor 112, the chipcontroller 113, the command register 114 and the address register 115operate as the address rewrite module that rewrites the chip addressstored in the chip address register 123 by the operation under thecontrol of the transfer controller 2.

In the following, the method for assembling the multi-chip package 10 onthe SSD 100 will be explained. FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating themethod for assembling the multi-chip package 10 on the SSD 100 in thefirst embodiment. Initially, the manufacturer makes a decision as towhether Connection Example 1 or Connection Example 2 will be adopted(step S1). When Connection Example 2 is adopted (NO in step S1), themanufacturer connects the transfer controller 2 and the multi-chippackage 10 to each other by the signal line group (connection wiring210) for each portion of the internal wiring 140. In other words, eachsignal line group is independently coupled to the transfer controller.(step S2). Next, the manufacturer sets the transfer controller 2 byrewriting the contents of the chip address register 123 when thetransfer controller 2 is started up (step S3). Here, the operation ofthe transfer controller 2 is set so that the content of the chip addressregister 123 that is rewritten at start up refers to operation, and thefirmware that controls the MPU 24 is set so that the test command isissued to each of the memory chips 11 c to 11 d so that the chip addressof the memory chip 11 c is rewritten by “00” and the chip address of thememory chip 11 d is rewritten by “01”. When Connection Example 1 isadopted (YES in step S1), the manufacturer connects the transfercontroller 2 with the multi-chip package 10 by the signal line group(connection wiring 210) that has one end connected to the transfercontroller 2 and has the other end commonly connected to the solder ball56 for each portion of the internal wiring 140 (step S4). With theoperation in step S3 or step S4, the assembly of the multi-chip package10 comes to an end.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the SSD 100 whenConnection Example 1 is adopted. When the SSD 100 is started up, thechip address-setting circuit 122 has the contents set in the chipaddress-setting pins 130 a, 130 b stored in the chip address register123 as the chip address of the initial state (step S11). Then, on thebasis of the firmware set in step S3, the transfer controller 2 rewritesthe contents of the chip address register 123 with a chip address thatcan be identified among the memory chips commonly connected to the sameportion of the internal wiring 140 (step S12). For example, the transfercontroller 2 issues the test command to rewrite the chip address of thememory chip 11 c by “00” and the test command to rewrite the chipaddress of the memory chip 11 d by “01”. Immediately after start up, inthe chip address register 123 of the memory chips 11 a to 11 d, the chipaddress of the initial state that can identify the memory chips 11 a to11 d is set, so that the transfer controller 2 can assign the issuingdestination of the test command using the chip address of the initialstate. In the memory chip 11 c, as the test command is received, the I/Osignal processor 111, the control signal processor 112, the chipcontroller 113, the command register 114, and the address register 115work together to rewrite the contents of the chip address register 123by “00”. Also, in the memory chip 11 d, as the test command is received,the I/O signal processor 111, the control signal processor 112, the chipcontroller 113, the command register 114, and the address register 115work together to rewrite the contents of the chip address register 123by “01”. Next, the transfer controller 2 uses the rewritten chip addressand the CE signal to select the memory chip of the access destinationamong the memory chips 11 a to 11 d (step S13) and executes the datatransfer between the selected memory chip and the host device 200 (stepS14). The operation then ends.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the SSD 100 whenConnection Example 2 is adopted. When the SSD 100 starts up, the chipaddress setting circuit 122 has the contents set in the chipaddress-setting pins 130 a, 130 b as the chip address of the initialstate in the chip address register 123 for each of memory chips 11 a to11 d (step S21). Next, the transfer controller 2 uses the chip addressof the initial state stored in the chip address register 123 and the CEsignal to select the memory chip of the access destination among thememory chips 11 a to 11 d (step S22), and executes the data transferbetween the selected memory chip and the host device 200 (step S23). Theoperation then ends.

As explained above, according to the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the multi-chip package 10 has one or more memory chips 11 ato 11 d (the first group), portions of an internal wiring 140 for eachchip that are common connections of the CE signal for a group of memorychips (the second group) that includes one or more memory chips, and onesolder ball 56 for each of the portions of the internal wiring 140 forfeeding the external CE signal to the internal wiring 140. Each of thememory chips 11 a to 11 d has a chip address register 123 that operatesas the chip address memory region configured to store the rewritten chipaddress. In addition, each of the memory chips 11 a to 11 d includes anI/O signal processor 111, a control signal processor 112, a chipcontroller 113, a command register 114, and an address register 115 thattogether operate as the address rewrite module for rewriting the chipaddress stored in the chip address register 123 by an externaloperation. Consequently, the manufacturer of the SSD 100 can adopt thedesired connection relationships among the connections of ConnectionExample 1 and Connection Example 2. Consequently, the design of the SSD100 can be highly flexible. For example, when Connection Example 1 isadopted, the transfer controller 2 can use the chip address in theinitial state and the CE signal to assign the memory chip with theaccess destination. Additionally, when Connection Example 2 is adopted,the transfer controller 2 can rewrite the chip address of the initialstate stored in the chip address register 123 to the chip address thatcan identify the chip addresses (that is, the memory chips in the secondgroup) that are commonly connected by the internal wiring 140.Furthermore, the transfer controller 2 can use the rewritten chipaddress and the CE signal to assign the memory chip of the accessdestination.

Each of the memory chips 11 a to 11 d also has a chip address-settingcircuit 122 that operates as the initial value-setting module configuredto set the chip address at the initial state, where the chip addressesallow identification of the memory chips 11 a to 11 d in the chipaddress memory region belonging to the same memory chip at start up.With such an arrangement, by using the chip address of the initial stateimmediately after start up, the transfer controller 2 can identify thememory chips 11 a to 11 d.

In addition, feeding units for providing the chip address in the initialstate are not limited to the chip address-setting pins 130 a, 130 b. Forexample, one may also adopt a scheme in which the chip address of theinitial state is preset in a ROM fuse or other nonvolatile memory, andthe chip address-setting circuit 122 reads the chip address of theinitial state from the nonvolatile memory and stores it in the chipaddress register 123.

Second Embodiment

According to the second embodiment, the chip address of the initialstate is preset in a ROM fuse as rewritable nonvolatile memory. Themanufacturer can directly rewrite the chip address in the nonvolatilememory when the multi-chip package 10 is assembled on the SSD 100.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the composition of the memory chips 11a to 11 d that form the multi-chip package 10 according to the secondembodiment. Because the memory chips 11 a to 11 d have the samecomposition, only the composition of the memory chip 11 a will beexplained as a representative. The same reference numbers used above inthe first embodiment are adopted here, and they will not be explained indetail again.

As shown in the figure, the memory chip 11 a has an I/O signal processor111, a control signal processor 112, a chip controller 113, a commandregister 114, an address register 115, a data register 116, a memorycell array 117, a column decoder 118, a sense amplifier 119, a rowdecoder 120, and an RY/BY generator 121. A portion of the memory cellarray 117 is used as the ROM fuse 124 that stores the chip address.

In the ROM fuse 124, the chip address of the initial state ispre-stored. The I/O signal processor 111, the control signal processor112, the chip controller 113, the command register 114, and the addressregister 115 work together to work as an address rewrite module thatrewrites the chip address stored in the ROM fuse 124 under control ofthe transfer controller 2.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart illustrating the method for assembling themulti-chip package 10 on the SSD 100 in the second embodiment. First,the manufacturer decides whether Connection Example 1 will be adopted orConnection Example 2 will be adopted (step S31). When Connection Example2 is adopted (NO in step S31), the manufacturer uses a prescribed deviceto manipulate the chip address rewrite region so that the contents ofthe ROM fuse 124 are rewritten such that it is possible to identify thememory chips that are commonly connected to the same portion of theinternal wiring 140 (step S32). That is, the manufacturer rewrites thechip address of the memory chip 11 c with “00”, and it rewrites the chipaddress of the memory chip 11 d with “01”. Next, the transfer controller2 and the multi-chip package 10 are connected to each other by eachsignal line group (connection wiring 210) for each portion of theinternal wiring 140 (step S33). When Connection Example 1 is adopted(YES in step S31), the manufacturer has the transfer controller 2 andthe multi-chip package 10 connected to each other by the signal linegroup (connection wiring 210) that has one end connected to the transfercontroller 2 and has the other end commonly connected to the solder ball56 one for each portion of the internal wiring 140 (step S34). By theoperation of step S33 or step S34, assembly of the multi-chip package 10is completed.

In this way, according to the second embodiment, in its arrangement, thechip address of the initial state is stored in the ROM fuse as therewritable nonvolatile memory, and the contents of the ROM fuse can berewritten externally. Consequently, the manufacturer of the SSD 100 canadopt the desired connection relationships of either Connection Example1 or Connection Example 2. Consequently, it is possible to have highflexibility in the design of the SSD 100.

While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments havebeen presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit thescope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described hereinmay be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, variousomissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodimentsdescribed herein may be made without departing from the spirit of theinventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intendedto cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope andspirit of the inventions.

What is claimed:
 1. A multi-chip package comprising: a first group ofmemory chips that includes a first memory chip and a second memory chip;a second group of memory chips that includes at least one memory chip; afirst internal wiring system that couples the first memory chip and thesecond memory chip to a first terminal configured to receive achip-enable signal; and a second internal wiring system that couples theat least one memory chip to a second terminal configured to receive thechip-enable signal, wherein the first memory chip and the second memorychip each comprises a chip address memory region configured to store anaddress associated with the memory chip, and an address rewrite moduleconfigured to rewrite the address associated with the memory chip andstored in the chip address memory region in response to an externaloperation.
 2. The multi-chip package according to claim 1, wherein thefirst memory chip and the second memory chip each include an initialvalue-setting module configured to set the address associated with thememory chip to an initial state.
 3. The multi-chip package according toclaim 2, wherein the first memory chip and the second memory chip eachinclude address-setting pins and the initial value-setting module isconfigured to set the initial state of the address associated with thememory chip based on voltages applied to the address-setting pins. 4.The multi-chip package according to claim 3, wherein one of theaddress-setting pins is configured to couple the memory chip to a supplyvoltage and another of the address-setting pins is configured to becoupled to a ground voltage.
 5. The multi-chip package according toclaim 2, wherein the chip address memory region includes a nonvolatilememory and the initial value-setting module is configured to set theinitial state of the address associated with the memory chip based on avalue stored in the nonvolatile memory.
 6. The multi-chip packageaccording to claim 1, wherein the first terminal is configured to couplethe first memory chip to a transfer controller of a memory system andthe second terminal is configured to couple the second memory chip tothe transfer controller of the memory system.
 7. The multi-chip packageaccording to claim 6, wherein the first terminal and the second terminalare electrically coupled so that the first group of memory chips and thesecond group of memory chips are each configured to receive the samechip-enable signal.
 8. The multi-chip package according to claim 6,wherein the first terminal and the second terminal are independentlycoupled to the transfer controller of the memory system so that thefirst group of memory chips and the second group of memory chip eachreceive separate chip-enable signals.
 9. The multi-chip packageaccording to claim 8, wherein the first memory chip includes an addressrewrite module configured to rewrite the address associated with thefirst memory chip that is stored in the chip address memory region ofthe first memory chip, and the second memory chip includes an addressrewrite module configured to rewrite the address associated with thesecond memory chip that is stored in the chip address memory region ofthe second memory chip.
 10. The multi-chip package according to claim 9,wherein the address rewrite module of the first memory chip isconfigured to rewrite the address associated with first memory chip inresponse to an external operation and the address rewrite module of thesecond memory chip is configured to rewrite the address associated withsecond memory chip in response to the external operation.
 11. Themulti-chip package according to claim 1, wherein the first internalwiring system includes at least one of an input/output signal line, acontrol signal line, and a ready/busy signal line.
 12. A memory systemcomprising: a first group of memory chips that includes a first memorychip and a second memory chip; a second group of memory chips thatincludes at least one memory chip; a first internal wiring system thatcouples the first memory chip and the second memory chip to a firstterminal configured to receive a first chip-enable signal; a secondinternal wiring system that couples the at least one memory chip to asecond terminal configured to receive a second chip-enable signal; and atransfer controller configured to select a memory chip in the firstgroup of memory chips as an access destination and transfer data betweenthe selected memory chip and a host device, wherein the first terminaland the second terminal are independently coupled to the transfercontroller, and the first memory chip and the second memory chip eachcomprises a rewritable chip address memory area, an address rewritemodule configured to rewrite contents of the chip address memory area inresponse to an external operation, and an initial value-setting modulethat is configured to set an initial address value selected to associatethe memory chip with the first group of memory chips at start up, andwherein the transfer controller is configured to rewrite the initialaddress value associated with the first memory chip and the initialaddress value associated with the second memory chip to respectiverewritten address values that are selected to identify the first groupof memory chips when selecting the access destination.
 13. Themulti-chip package according to claim 12, wherein the first memory chipand the second memory chip each include address-setting pins and theinitial value-setting module of the first memory chip and the secondmemory chip are each configured to set initial address state based onvoltages applied to the address-setting pins.
 14. The multi-chip packageaccording to claim 12, wherein the rewritable chip address memory areaof the first memory chip and the second memory chip each includes anonvolatile memory and the initial value-setting module of the firstmemory chip and the second memory chip are each configured to setinitial address state based on a value stored in the nonvolatile memory.15. The multi-chip package according to claim 14, wherein thenonvolatile memory of the rewritable chip address memory area of thefirst memory chip and the second memory chip comprises a read onlymemory (ROM) fuse.
 16. The multi-chip package according to claim 12,wherein the first internal wiring system includes as least one of aninput/output signal line, a control signal line, and a ready/busy signalline.
 17. The multi-chip package according to claim 12, wherein thetransfer controller uses the rewritten address value associated with thefirst memory chip and the first chip-enable signal to select the accessdestination.
 18. A memory system comprising: a first group of memorychips that includes a first memory chip and a second memory chip; asecond group of memory chips that includes at least one memory chip; afirst internal wiring system that couples the first memory chip and thesecond memory chip to a first terminal configured to receive achip-enable signal; a second internal wiring system that couples the atleast one memory chip to a second terminal configured to receive thechip-enable signal; and a transfer controller configured to select amemory chip in one of the first group of memory chips and the secondgroup of memory chips as an access destination and transfer data betweenthe selected memory chip and a host device, wherein the first terminaland the second terminal are electrically coupled so that the firstmemory chip and the second memory chip are each configured to receivethe same chip-enable signal, and the first memory chip and the secondmemory chip each comprises a rewritable chip address memory area, and aninitial value-setting module configured to set the address associatedwith the memory chip to an initial state, and wherein the transfercontroller is configured to select a memory chip as an accessdestination based on the initial state of the first memory chip, thesecond memory chip and the at least one memory chip.
 19. The multi-chippackage according to claim 18, wherein the first memory chip and thesecond memory chip each include address-setting pins and the initialvalue-setting module of the first memory chip and the second memory chipare each configured to set initial address state based on voltagesapplied to the address-setting pins.
 20. The multi-chip packageaccording to claim 18, wherein the rewritable chip address memory areaof the first memory chip and the second memory chip each includes anonvolatile memory and the initial value-setting module of the firstmemory chip and the second memory chip are each configured to setinitial address state based on a value stored in the nonvolatile memory.